Rentrak and ListenFirst Media Track TV Show Stickiness

There are those TV shows that millions of people watch, and maybe soon forget. Then there are those shows that perhaps not as many people watch, but the folks who do don’t miss a second–and then they go online to talk, blog, chat, and theorize with other fans about every single plot detail.

The media research firms Rentrak and ListenFirst Media want to help advertisers identify more of those shows that foster consistent viewing and high engagement. The two companies have collaborated on a new set of research that blends Rentrak real viewership data from TV set-top boxes with ListenFirst’s data culled from social media, blogs and other sources.

Here’s how it works: Rentrak looked at viewership patterns for 40,000 different shows from the fourth quarter of last year and then tracked the average percentage of each broadcast that people watched. The study focused on live TV viewing only.

The thinking is the that when people watch the majority of a TV show (and don’t flip around the dial as much), then they are more into that show and, therefore, are theoretically more receptive to ads during that show.

At the same time, ListenFirst looked at which TV shows spurred the most people to discuss them on social media and contribute to blogs, Wikipedia and other digital channels. Again, the thinking is that digital passion for certain shows indicates programs that advertisers would want to be associated with.

Then, the two research firms plotted the two data sets into four quadrants. For example, some shows are ‘sticky’ in terms of their consistent viewership patterns, but score low in terms of digital engagement. Some generate lots of online chatter but have less consistent viewing.

It was the shows that garner the most consistent TV audience and spark the most digital conversation that ListenFirst and Rentrak pegged as “hidden gems” to advertisers, said Michael Vinson, Rentrak’s executive vice president of statistical operations and data science. They call this the “sticking and clicking” quadrant. These shows may or may not generate big ratings, but the data suggests that their fans are fully engaged, and thus more likely to pay attention to advertising. Plus, there may be shows that are sometimes overlooked by ad buyers and may not command the prices that top rated shows typically garner.

Interestingly, the shows people are watching loyally and responding to frequently in digital media aren’t necessarily obvious. Fox’s super-buzzy “Empire” falls into the most desired “sticking and clicking” category, but so does CBS’s “60 Minutes,” which has been on the air since 1968.

“You may find shows that are waiting to take off or have a loyal following, which is important to advertisers,” Mr. Vinson said. “They don’t want to reach people who are half paying attention.”

Other shows that fall into the coveted category are highly rated hits like CBS’ “NCIS” and “The Big Bang Theory.” But some lower-rated shows like BBC America’s “Doctor Who” and SyFy’s “12 Monkeys” represent sleeper shows that draw those coveted loyal and engaged viewers.

O.K., so, science fiction shows may not be that surprising. But the researchers also found that shows like VH1′s “Mob Wives” and Oxygen’s “Bad Girls Club” stood out for scoring high on “sticking and clicking.”

“What we found is that it’s a very mixed bag and very show-by-show,” said Jason Klein, co-founder of ListenFirst. “But we think this conversation can really open up advertisers’ and agencies’ eyes to alternatives to standard measurement and tracking the impact of TV programming.”

“It could even save them money,” added Mr. Vinson, who noted that some brands might want to move ad budgets to lower-priced sleeper shows.